“Ukraine is a dangerous country,” he said, setting the tone for a discussion that intertwined cybersecurity, national sovereignty, and the implications of Ukraine’s potential accession to the European Union.
The prime minister revealed that Hungarian families lose approximately HUF 8 billion each year due to online financial fraud. “These are vile scams because they usually exploit people's willingness to help,” he stated. “They don't target opportunists trying to make a quick buck through shady deals—they target honest people who have saved money through years of hard work.”
Describing Hungary as especially vulnerable, he said, “We are a people of goodwill, and that makes us easy prey for scammers.” While Hungarians often view themselves as savvy, the reality is that “it’s easy to trick us—especially in the digital world.”
The prime minister traced the evolution of such frauds from clumsy, broken-Hungarian messages to today's seamless scams that need no text at all. “A single click is all it takes, and suddenly your money is gone,” he warned. He cited a previous wave of scams that preyed on the elderly, using fake emergencies involving grandchildren. This shift to digital has made it harder to detect and fight these crimes in time.
Prime Minister Orbán emphasized that law enforcement efforts are making headway. “According to the government’s latest report, HUF 1.5 billion has been recovered,” he said. “We’ve allocated more resources to the police so that more personnel can focus on preventing and mitigating these scams.”
A significant portion of these cybercrimes, the prime minister claimed, are tied to Ukrainian criminal networks. “Eighty percent of these criminal groups have Ukrainian backgrounds. They operate from Ukraine, and their networks are structured like mafias,” he said. He described a successful operation in which Hungarian authorities helped dismantle an illegal call center in Ukraine that posed as a bank to deceive Hungarian citizens.
PM Orbán warned that if Ukraine were to join the EU, these threats would grow. “Everything would become easier for them—they would integrate into the European Union’s system and be treated like any other financial service provider. It would be much harder to act against them.”
He urged vigilance, pointing to the ongoing “Voks 2025” national consultation as a sign that public awareness is rising. “More than 1.6 million people have already returned their ballots,” he noted. “Hungarians are beginning to understand that safety and security must come first.”
Discussing broader EU dynamics, the prime minister argued that Brussels consistently uses crises—from financial meltdowns to wars—as excuses to centralize power. “Every time there’s trouble, Brussels grabs more authority and strips it from the member states,” he said. “They did this during the financial crisis, the migration crisis, COVID, the energy crisis—and now with the war.”
“This is the big question of the next couple of years: Will Brussels use the war in Ukraine to take even more money and decision-making power from the member states?” he asked. “We must resist, because we will lose out otherwise. The member states will suffer, and Brussels won’t be able to solve the problems even with the extra power.”
As Prime Minister Orbán concluded, the stakes are clear: Hungary must protect its citizens from digital fraud and safeguard its national autonomy. “We must stand firm. If we don’t, we’ll be handing over our rights and our money—and getting nothing but chaos in return.”